It's Not the Load That Breaks You (It's the Way You Carry It)
by angelrider13
Summary: The Tri-ni-set was falling, the world crumbling around them, crawling slowly death and chaos. Too late to stop, but perhaps not too late to change. Tsuna makes a gamble and takes the Tri-ni-Set Skies back to the start.
1. Chapter 1

"We're not going to make it, Tsuna," Byakuran says softly, his eyes lucid in a way they haven't been in months.

Yuni lies in the bed between them – so young but already frail and fragile and breaking – a small hand in each of theirs. She's not even thirty yet and here she is on her death bed. As much as no one has mentioned it, they all know. Tsuna runs a thumb gently over her knuckles, wondering not for the first time when things went so wrong.

"Perhaps the you from the Future-That-Wasn't had the right idea," he says idly. It's not the first time he's had that thought.

Byakuran gives him a wane smile. "Don't be silly, Tsu-chan, you know he didn't."

Tsuna shrugs. "If you can't change it, destroy it and start over."

"That only works when you have something to start over with," Byakuran replies, "And Future-Me-That-Wasn't wasn't really going for that."

Tsuna hums in acknowledgement. He's been quieter these days, prone to contemplation. Yuni and Byakuran have always been more inclined to Seeing things – Tsuna has always Felt. And right now there is so very much to Feel. Every Flame Death hits him like a blow to the chest, knocking the air from his lungs and leaving him reeling. The World is falling down around their ears and the three of them seem to be the only ones who notice.

That doesn't mean they aren't affected.

Their Guardians hover, worried and clueless, and watch as their Skies seemingly crumble before them. But Takeshi's and Daisy's Flames have already Withered to nothing, Skull's Flames Surged, triggering Hayato's and Zakuro's Surges as well, made all the worse by their volatile natures.

None of them seem to notice.

Yuni, when she's awake, looks at them all with sad eyes, but says nothing about their Flames consuming them from the inside out.

Byakuran eyes Kyouya and Gamma, though he doesn't seem to realize why most of the time given his condition, but Tsuna knows that it means they're next. He can feel it building up inside them, eating away at restraints and controls their wielders aren't even aware are there.

The Guardians don't realize it, but their Skies are waiting for them to die.

This is the result of maintaining balance through sacrifice. Eventually, the source became either unwilling or depleted. Checker Face miscalculated and is now scrambling to find a way to fix things.

Tsuna knows from the cold knot in his chest that it isn't going to work.

The Earthling used chains and puppet strings to maintain life. Tsuna doesn't believe in that. He doesn't believe in a life that can only be sustained by the unwilling sacrifice of others. What determines who lives and dies? How do those that live have more right to life than those who are sacrificed? Tsuna doesn't know. And he doesn't want to. That system has obviously already failed and he wants no part of it.

"We should change it," he murmurs.

Byakuran hums and looks at him with eyes so clear that Tsuna wants to weep. "It's a little late for that."

Tsuna huffs and looks back at Yuni, watching the shallow rise and fall of her chest for a long moment. She's dying, her body is failing, slowly being crushed under the weight of the Sky. Byakuran is the same, his mind being pulled in so many directions that he can't keep up. He drifts more and more and it gets harder to pull him back each time. The Sky is a heavy burden and even divided between the three of them, they tremble beneath its weight.

Yuni's body is dying.

Byakuran is losing his mind.

And Tsuna is burning himself out trying to keep the three of them going.

This isn't right. This isn't right and Tsuna _knows_ it. But he doesn't know how to fix it. Everything is too far gone to even attempt fixing it. If only they had acted sooner, when they were younger and things weren't so damaged. If only they could go back and –

Go back.

 _Go back._

Tsuna's head snaps up, eyes wide, mind whirling even as Byakuran gives him a curious look.

"We can change it," Tsuna says breathlessly, plan falling into place in his mind, his Intuition humming warmly. "We _will_ change it," he says firmly, looking into Byakuran's eyes.

The older man's brow furrowed, "Tsuna…?"

"You want to time travel."

Both men jerk around at the soft voice to look into tired blue eyes.

Taking a shaky breath, Tsuna squeezes her hand, aware of Byakuran doing the same on her other side. "We've done it before," he says.

Yuni hums, fingers curling loosely around his. " _You_ have," she corrects.

"Technically, Future-Him-That-Wasn't did it," Byakuran says, "He just experienced it."

Tsuna clicks his tongue. "Not the point."

"The point is you want to change things," Yuni prompts, caution in the pale lines of her face, as Byakuran looks between them warily.

And Tsuna is suddenly angry. Angry that no one is paying enough attention to see what's going on, angry that any of them are even in this position in the first place, angry that two of his closest friends seem resigned to their fate.

"You're both _dying_ ," he hisses, Sky blazing in his eyes.

Byakuran gives him a grim smile. "You say that like I don't know what it is to die," he says, eyes old, "You've killed me before, remember?"

"Byakuran," Yuni says reproachfully.

The white haired man subsides with a smirk.

"I'm not like you," Tsuna says, cutting off whatever Yuni is about to say, "I'm not like your grandmother. When people I love are in danger and I know how to stop it, I'm not going to sit around and do nothing because it's the way things are supposed to be or whatever bullshit you're about to try and placate me with. You might be resigned to your death, but I'm not."

Yuni blinks at him, the movement sluggish and bewildered.

"…You know how to stop it?" Byakuran repeats slowly, expression shrewd.

Tsuna reaches out and takes Byakuran's free hand with his. "I have an idea," he clarifies.

Byakuran hums and exchanges a speaking look with Yuni before they both nod.

Tsuna explains.

They listen.

"I can't do that, Tsuna," Byakuran says seriously, after he's outlined his thoughts, "This is the first time I've been lucid in _months_ and even now, I'm not entirely sure this is real. I can't."

"You can," Tsuna says firmly, pressing fingers against the inside of the other man's wrist.

"But – "

" _You can._ "

Byakuran pauses and Yuni squeezes his fingers weakly.

"You can," Tsuna repeats, gentling his tone, "You can because you deserve better than this. Because _we_ deserve better than this. Because _our Families_ deserve better than this. We deserve a chance to live our lives. This isn't living. This isn't even _surviving_ – this is just waiting to die."

After a long moment of silence, Yuni says, "Checker Face won't be able to find any Skies to replace us."

They know this. The Skies had gone first after all. Tsuna had despaired when Xanxus had Surged and Dino had Withered – both of them had completely burned out in months and no one had been able to explain their deaths. But the three of them had exchanged grim looks while everyone else grieved and they knew.

Byakuran looks between them, lips pressed into a thin line before they quirk up at the corners. "Alright," he says with a sigh, "We've nothing to lose at this point."

"But everything to gain," Yuni whispers with a small smile.

"It'll work," Tsuna says, calling up his Flames and wrapping them around his fellow Skies, "I'll _make_ it work."

Yuni chuckles softly, more a huff of air than anything, and Byakuran grins.

They close their eyes and summon whatever Flame they have left. The Mare Sky Ring glows where it rests on Byakuran's finger, the Vongola Sky Ring and Sky Pacifier flaring brightly in response.

They breathe out.

The Sky goes dark.

They don't breathe in.

* * *

Yuni opens her eyes and doesn't hurt.

She blinks and takes an experimental breath, in then out, repeat, and almost bursts out into hysterical giggles when she doesn't break down into those horrible hacking coughs that made her entire body _ache_.

It worked.

She sits up and is, for a moment, unsettled at how small she is now. Is this how the Arcoblaneo felt when they woke up as infants for the first time? Like your body doesn't fit quite right? But she can move and she doesn't hurt anymore and she can finally _breathe_ and that alone is amazing enough that she doesn't care that she is now little more than a child.

She releases a small pulse of Flame, subtle enough to go unnoticed, and is torn between weeping in relief or breaking down into giddy, probably hysterical, laughter when she feels the steady, healthy, alive burn of familiar Flames around her.

Alive.

Her Family is _alive_.

It worked.

She smiles.

* * *

Byakuran opens his eyes and can hear himself think.

He's forgotten what that's felt like with all the parallel worlds clamoring for his attention. His ability to filter the information had steadily gotten worse as the Tri-ni-Set declined and Yuni's body started failing. It's been so long since he's been able to think this clearly; it's more than a little disorienting. But he knows what that means, that he can think clearly, that he isn't being pulled in countless directions.

It worked.

 _Clever little Tsu-chan and his schemes_ , Byakuran thinks fondly.

There's so much to do.

But suddenly, he has time to do it.

He smiles.

* * *

Tsuna opens his eyes and sees his old bedroom.

The one from his childhood in a house that is no longer there. Or at least, it hadn't been. The fact that he's in a room that no longer exists tells him everything he needs to know.

It worked.

There's no weight pressing down on his chest, no icy chill stealing the breath from his lungs anymore. He can breathe.

He can feel his mother down the hall, the neighbors in the next house over. He can feel the steady pulse of Flames that don't mean Active, but life.

It worked.

He smiles.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everyone who took the time to comment!**

 **I'd just like to remind everyone that I have fudged with the timeline a bit because somethings will be different than canon and many things in canon were left kinda vague, so I'm just putting my own spin on things. Also, I'd like to note that I don't plan on making this fic a romance.**

* * *

Yuni quietly opens the door to her mother's bedroom, closing it softly behind her, and walking silently across the floor to the bed.

She carefully sets the wooden box in her hands down on the nightstand, not letting it make a sound. The sleeping medicine she'd slipped into everyone's drinks at dinner is effective, but she doesn't want to take any chances.

Climbing into the bed without shaking it is a challenge she doesn't manage and she curses silently at her tiny form. She can definitely appreciate what the other Arcobaleno went through on a whole new level, but she pushes that thought aside. She'll have time for it later.

For a long moment, Yuni can't do much else but stare at her mother's sleeping form, drinking her in. Aria had died when she as only fourteen, passing on the Sky Pacifier to her only child just before her death. Part of Yuni wants to toss the whole plan and just curl up with her mother like the child she suddenly is.

But she can't.

With a shaky breath, she takes her mother's hand and carefully tugs the Mare Sky Ring off her finger. Reaching to open the wooden box, she places the Ring with the rest of its Set that she'd collected before coming here.

Now for the hard part.

Calling her Flames to her fingertips, Yuni cups the Sky Pacifier in his palms. She feels a familiar tug in her core and the Pacifier begins to glow softly. Yuni had been the bearer of the Pacifier for years. She'd supported the Tri-ni-Set for over a decade and that leaves a mark. The Pacifier recognizes her. But it's can't have two bearers.

Yuni grits her teeth as she forcibly stops it from withdrawing from Aria's Flames and latching onto hers. Such a sudden separation would result in her mother's death and that is something she _does not want_. Slowly, carefully, she untangles the threads of Flame the Pacifier has woven into her mother's Flames, leaving behind threads of her own Flames to replace them.

When she's finished, she's sweaty and out of breath and there is the familiar weight of the Sky across her shoulders. But her mother sleeps on even as the Sky Pacifier now rests in her hands.

Yuni takes a deep breath and releases it slowly, curling the Pacifier close to her chest. It's done. The burden is hers again. Leaning down, she presses a light kiss to her mother's cheek, then slides off the bed and grabs the wooden box, leaving a letter in its place, before heading for the door.

She pauses at the threshold and glances back. She mother is silent and still, her breathing even. She's alive and free and Yuni has only ever wanted the world for her.

"Goodbye, Mother," she whispers.

She leaves the room, the door closing soundlessly behind her.

* * *

Tsuna is freezing.

He'd forgotten how it felt to have his Flames sealed. His mother has been throwing him concerned looks all morning since he walked downstairs in three sweaters and a scarf. In the middle of summer. Luckily, it is summer vacation, so he has some time to get himself under control. Which is easier said than done.

He knows why Nono sealed his flames, understands the reasons. But knowing what he knows now, about Flames in general, about his own Flames personally, he can't believe this was done to him. He feels so _empty_. Like a part of him is missing – a very _large_ part – and all that's been left in its place is a dark, gapping, _freezing_ void. His body feels awkward, like it's ten sizes too small, and it doesn't move the way he wants it to, as if there is some kind of disconnect between his brain and his body.

He'd never noticed this the first time around.

 _Then again, growing up not knowing anything else would do that_ , he thinks wryly.

He's currently sprawled out in the backyard, sweaters and all, soaking up as much sunlight as he can in an effort to warm up. His fingers and toes still feel numb. He wants to groan in frustration, but he doesn't. He closes his eyes and evens out his breathing and sinks into meditation like Reborn taught him to so long ago.

In the beginning, Reborn had already cracked the seal, so there was a spark that Tsuna could follow. Now, there is nothing, so Tsuna dives into the void. He wanders through his own mind, through empty space, pulling, calling, tugging, watching and listening for any kind of reaction. He walks for what seems like hours.

Eventually, he stumbles upon a wall.

A wall that looks suspiciously like Zero Point Breakthrough.

Tsuna narrows his eyes and places a hand on the wall. He can feel Nono's Flames within it and the faintest echo of his own Sky beyond it. Brow furrowing, he reaches out towards that echo, trying to cox it out.

He feels the moment Nono's seal rebels.

Something clamps down on his Flames and they screech, writhing, trying to escape, to reach him. Tsuna grits his teeth and _pushes_ against the wall, cracks forming against the ice.

It hurts.

It hurts far more than he was expecting it to and he's thrown out of his meditative state.

Tsuna blinks up at the sky, head pounding, jaw aching like he's been clenching his teeth for far too long. He's still cold and when he reaches for his Flames, there is still nothing but a void.

"Huh," he says blearily, "This could be a problem."

* * *

Byakuran hums softly to himself as he reclines in a tree.

He's somewhere in the woods behind the Giglio Nero mansion, near one of the exits to the secret passages that run under it, waiting. It's a quiet night, the silence almost stifling after being surrounded by constant noise for years. He relishes it because it makes this more real.

Sneaking away was ridiculously easy. Physically, he's thirteen, but he feels so much older and slipping out of Gesso territory without getting caught was child's play. Out of all of them, his Famiglia is the one they are most likely to keep ties with even though it's small and relatively unknown at this point in time. He is, technically, the Boss already; his father having passed away when he was a child and his mother in ill health. So instead of cutting and running, he'd left a specific set of instructions with his caretaker – his mother's Rain Guardian.

This leaves him both free to act and to maintain the Gesso. He'll have to set up a firmer framework for it once they reach Tsuna, but this will do for the moment.

Now, he just has to collect Yuni and –

Speaking of.

He glances down just in time to see Yuni crawling through some tree roots.

She's small, is the first thought that crosses his mind. He'd known that, of course. Planning on going this far back, with Yuni being the youngest of them, she'd be little more than a child. It's one thing, though, to know it intellectually and to see it as a reality. She'd been a child when they first met, technically, but now, she doesn't even reach his waist.

Her clothes aren't exactly practical – a forest green dress with birds and flowers embroidered around the edge and a pair of soft, brown boots with shallow heels – though considering how tiny she is, he doubts that she's got that much to choose from. She has a backpack and a messenger bag with her and both look filled to the brim.

He hops down from his perch just as she's pulled herself free.

"Well, hello, little Sky~," he purrs, "Fancy meeting you here."

Yuni spins at the sound of his voice, a smile lighting up her face that he only has a second to enjoy before she's throwing herself into his arms.

"Byakuran! You're here!"

He laughs softly. "You say that like I'd be somewhere else."

She pulls back and rolls her eyes. "You know what I mean."

He grins at her, bright and innocent. A flash of orange catches his eye and he looks down to see the Sky Pacifier resting against Yuni's chest, held in place with a pale orange ribbon. He reaches out and lightly taps a fingertip against the glassy surface.

"Yours again, hm?"

Yuni gives him a sad, understanding smile, and then reaches into her messenger and pulls out a wooden box. She holds it out to him and Byakuran can feel the weight of the moment. Sure enough, when he opens the box, the Mare Rings gleam up at him.

He smiles the same sad smile Yuni gave him. The Sky Mare Ring is a familiar weight on his finger and he can hear whispers in the back of his mind again.

"I'm sorry," Yuni says, with sad, sad eyes.

Byakuran smiles and presses a kiss to her forehead. "Don't be silly, Yuni. This Ring has always been mine." He holds out a hand to her, the box with the Mare Rings held in the other. "Shall we go? I believe we have some errands to run?"

Yuni smiles, this one bright and anticipatory, and takes his hand. "We do!" she chirps.

"Off we go then~!"

* * *

 **And so begin the Adventures of Smol Tri-ni-Set Skies!**

 **If anyone was wondering, Yuni is ~4 years old, while Tsuna is ~10 and Byakuran is ~14.**

 **Until next time,**

 **~Elri**


End file.
